07 Mar 2014

Shearwaters Everywhere

We arrived at the Snares Islands about 0500 and waited until first light to assess conditions. As the darkness gave way to light we watched as litereally thousands of Sooty Shearwaters left the island where they had been feeding their chicks overnight. They then congregated on the sea all around the ship before heading out to feed. This phenomenon is often described but rarely seen and experienced, so it was a rare privilege to be there for this unique event. We had hoped to Zodiac cruise the island this time (bad weather had prevented this on the second day of our expedition) but it wasn’t to be this morning either as the SE swell and increasing wind made conditions unsuitable for the Zodiacs.

As I write this we are heading back towards Bluff and the end of this expedition.